'For the 1st time in forever' - Day 5 A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow

Day 0 " On My Way (Brother Bear)

DS popped in last night to say goodbye and as usual raid my kitchen for food, well as he is a teenager he did what they are best at..... Leaving a trail of mud over my nice CLEAN pre holiday hoovered carpet !!!! Cue Hettie (I have a pink hoover called Hetty, she is related to the red 'Henry' hoovers). That done I changed the sheets and it was time for me to check in online, I sat there anxiously waiting for the check into open as I did NOT want to lose my upstairs seat on the plane. All went smoothly and I had my boarding pass, seat 80K just as I requested. I went out to see Bryn and then sat around waiting for Mum and DS to pick me up.....(We were taking DS to work on the way) I know it was not long but it felt like FOREVER I just wanted to be on my way.
2.30pm arrives and I am outside tapping my feet and pacing, they were on time thankfully, late would not have been an option the state I was getting in. DS safely dispatched to work and we are off to Gatwick. I treated myself to a night in the Hilton, considering my flight was at 11.15am on a Monday and the motorways(M3, M25 and M23) are notoriously bad at the best of times let alone on a Monday morning, so for my own sanity and Mum's car it was probably the safest option, and I do love hotels.
Got the Hilton at about 4.10pm, check in was empty and the room was good, there were a few scuffed bits of wallpaper but it was clean and the bed was HUGE and very comfy looking.
I decided to make my way over to bag drop early as I was not sure how far I would have to walk. The reason for choosing the Hilton was it has a covered walkway straight to the terminal I needed so would take next to no time to get over there in the morning.
I arrived at bag drop at 4.50pm (10 minutes early) and walked right to the end of the worlds longest queue , it appears that great minds think alike and the entire flight decided to get there early, Thank heavens for Ipads is all I can say to that. Even though the queue was huge it moved surprisingly fast, I had been people watching from behind the ipad and saw that 1 of the guys was getting through 4 times as many people as the other 3, but hey ho I was done and my bag had vanished by 5.20pm, it weighed in at 13.4kg and my hand luggage was less than 2kg. Great news as I plan to enjoy shopping for gifts and making room for candy from MNSSHP (twice).
Having checked the room service offering and found it not only to be stupidly overpriced (more than normal in my opinion)but seriously lacking in inspiration, so I binned the plan of my little room service picnic and decided to explore the restaurants in the airport, I found a trusty Wetherspoons which fit the bill perfectly. I had a double G&T to toast the fact that I am going to DISNEYWORLD in the morning and a Tennessee Burger which was a little overcooked for my carnivorous tastes but it still tasted great. Outside the weather was nasty and wet and I hoped that would be the last rain I saw for a while. I updated my notes while waiting and took the chance to start relaxing, I was at the airport, my bag had been checked and it started to sink in that after all the years of hoping and planning and all the changes to those plans (for better or worse) I am 1 sleep away from the place that has always been top of my bucket list.
The dessert menu was rubbish so I decided to stop in M&S on the way back and grab an Iced, spiced bun and some sweets for the evening/ tomorrow.
Phoned Mum to check she got back ok, the traffic was awful and took her ages but she was fine. I also had a cheeky cocktail in the hotel bar , I don't drink much or often but Gin and cocktails are my favourites, I had a long Island Iced teal yummm... It was then that I realised I had just sent off my hairbrush and toothbrush in my checked luggage *facepalm* so I asked reception and they have spare toothbrushes but no combs or brushes meaning I now had a task for tomorrow another adapter (I only have 1) and a hairbrush.
On advice from check in security takes an hour at that time on a Monday so I set my alarm for 6.30am (EEEEPPPP I am not a morning person!) I also have an OCD thing about time and being late so even though it is silly O'clock I would rather be early as I get really panicked if I am even 1 minute late. Watched X-Factor and took a took a relaxing soak in the bath before heading off to sleep at a very early (for me) 11pm.

Next Up- Day 1 an actual disney day (Well sort of )

Thanks Guys

Day 1 " You Can Fly (Peter Pan)
After a bit of a rocky nights sleep, the hotel was noisy and I was in a room over the bins and the fact that I never sleep well for the 1st night in a hotel the alarm went off (6.30am!!!) and by 7am I was up, dressed and checked out of my room. Breakfast was great I had a selection of hot English breakfast items and some pancakes (I love pancakes and was getting in the mood for Mickey Waffles) Everything was so good I went up for seconds.
I decided that before I went back for thirds I had better leave the room and after being warned about the current delays in security I wanted to make sure I had some good browsing time on the other side. The choice of hotel was perfect (apart from the noisy room) as it took only 5 minutes to stroll across the walkway, past check in and over to security. Security took all of 1 minute to pass through and that was only because I had to put my stuff on the belt! Oh I lie " 2 minutes because I had to wait for my bag to get scanned.
1st stop Boots for a hairbrush (silly me!) and then a travel adapter in case I needed a 2nd one. I had a quick test of a perfume(think it was DKNY) and went to the toilets to get my hair in order. I browsed all of the shops but did not buy anything because I wanted to save my money for Disney shops. So you are thinking that its nearly time to get on the plane? NO it was 8.05am " I could have had an extra hour in bed!!! Gate information was not even due until 9.55am GGGRRRRRRR. The wait for the gate information seemed so long after that, and it was made worse by the gate information being delayed by 20 minutes. The minute the gate number came up I was off (Think Bolt) Gate 21 was MILES away! And for some strange reason on the huge trek to the gate I got my 1st real hit of excitement and I got a little bit teary, I was doing it! I was getting on a plane!!!!! And it was going to DISNEY!!!!! At the gate I was given 'the extra special massage' to be fair I always get frisked at security and found it odd that I had not been earlier so it all kind of made sense now (I've grown to accept that I must look dodgy). But soon enough I was boarding, my bubble seat was awesome, I had to put my carry on case in the cupboard but that was fine all I needed from it was my pillow. The window bin was awesome, I loved being able to dip in and out of it during the flight. I ended up sitting next to Laura and Omar " a really great couple who only live about 45 minutes from me. We had a great flight, laughing and chatting and sharing our plans. They liked G&T too so I was in great company, we also had been given the wrong menus so I was now not getting Miso Chicken but chicken and garlic mash. The Gu pudding was so good I wish it was bigger! I watched How to train your Dragon 2,listened to some music and had a little sleep before the crew served Ice lollies. I then watched a million ways to die in the west. I then watched 2 Episodes of Game of Thrones and had afternoon tea, which was a bit nasty but I was hungry. When we landed Laura, Omar and I marched swiftly to immigration where the queue was a bit scary looking but I was all done in an hour. Had a little eekk moment when my bag was not on the belt but I found it on the Premium Economy belt instead. After a long walk to the Magical express desk, I checked myself onto the bus at 5.15pm, I had a short wait for the bus to leave but at 5.40pm we were off, I could not stop smiling, the sun was shining and I was loving seeing the palm trees.
I lost track of time a bit here but Caribbean Beach was the 1st stop. I got checked in and bell services dropped me at my room, I had been given one of the refurbished rooms in Jamaica. I had originally requested to be close to the centre and/or a bus stop, neither were honored but my room was lovely and the view from the balcony was great.
I stopped only long enough to dump my case and sort out my handbag before heading to Downtown Disney where I collected my $200 gift card and asked for directions to the bus stop for the Lynx 56, well after 2 failed attempts to find it I gave up and got a taxi to walmart. I chose Walmart over Publix because I wanted to see if I could find some gifty bits. Not sure why but I found the shop to be a bit like a jumble sale, I will blame the fact I had been up for about 20 hours by this point. I did however get a case of water, some diet coke, red bull and some snacky bits for breakfast. In total I spent $57 and $20 each way for the taxi,I later worked out that even if I divided that amount among the drinks alone each drink would cost $1.60 which is loads better than $2.50 in the parks so I was happy. I did also buy a spray fan but ended up not using it as I did not need it.
When I got back to the room I was so tired that my plan to head back to Downtown Disney failed so I went over to Centretown to get my mug and had my 1st CS meal, Pizza and Carrot Cake " It was a great meal. The walk to Centretown was very pretty even in the dark and took about 10 minutes from my room. I headed back and got my clothes and bag ready for my 1st park day and promptly crashed out after being awake for around 23 hours..........

Day 2 " 'April' Showers " Bambi
Today I woke up before the alarm " WAYYYYYY before the alarm. 4am to be precise! I figured with being awake for nearly a full day yesterday and all of the excitement and build up I thought I would have slept in, so I forced myself to lay quietly and chill out for a while, this worked until 5.30am when I could not stand it for a moment longer so I got up, contacted home and mooched around the room until 6.30am where I got to try something for breakfast that I have never tried and always wanted to since I was a little girl....... Twinkies! I loved them (prefer them in the fridge for a while 1st). I then got ready and waited for my wake up call, I use these in Paris and it's always a major piece of excitement to hear who is going to be your wake up companion is going to be, I was surprised when it was Olaf and even though he is great I think I prefer Mickey and Goofy, I've also never heard stitch which is who I was secretly hoping for but Olaf is fun and I still liked to hear his cheerful voice for the rest of my holiday.
I wandered off to the bus stop very early but I could not wait around any longer, I have waited all of my life to be here " get me to the park! I only had a few minutes wait for the Hollywood Studios bus to arrive and I love the fact that for most of the buses Jamaica is the 1st stop (empty bus) I arrived at the gates with over an hour to wait. I soon got chatting to a lovely couple from New Jersey, we chatted about loads of great Disneyness including their decorated Magic Bands, food and must sees, England, Paris, Cruises, California, and everything in between and I was so engrossed in conversation that the hour flew by and before I knew it we were being let in!
I will admit here that all my planning went to pot, I had intended to do the Toy story 2K sprint but I was overwhelmed by everything, I wanted to see it all and soak it up, I also did not want my nose stuck in my map so I decided that I would do just that, my 1st day in my 1st park should not be spent racing to a ride and missing all the little details.
This is where I paused for my 1st photo,*BORING SIDE NOTE* I hate having my photo taken due to being bullied for being fat and my fashion choices. In addition I have a medical condition that means my legs are permanently filled with fluid which weighs about 28lbs, the only cure for this is to wear compression tights, they are thick and very tight and I am really self conscious about them*SIDE NOTE ENDS* I found the photopass guys were amazing for my whole trip, I felt happy enough to pose and join in the fun of having my photo taken (Over 500 in total!)
I had a nice wander around and on the recommendation of the photopass guy I stopped to get my photo taken with the once upon a time baddies added in, you may have guessed I am a Regina fan from my avatar.
9am and the rides open " my 1st ever ride time eeekkk, what did I choose? Star Tours, a Paris classic, I was really excited to try the new version with different stories and it being in English!!!! It was awesome, I had the Snow and underwater with Ja-Ja. After that I did Muppet vision 3D, which was great, the details in the theatre really took me by surprise. The time slot for my 1st fastpass of the trip was just about to open so I headed off to ride one of my all time favourites " Tower of Terror, it felt strange not bribing or begging DS to come on with me. I was given the red card treatment and headed in, I think the attention to detail on this ride is amazing and the build up always gets me even though I love the ride I still get nervous before the 1st drop. As I was up that way I joined the single rider queue for Rock n Roll rollercoaster, another great classic ride but it does bash your head around a bit.
This was great timing as fastpass #2 was ready and waiting " Voyage of the little mermaid. Great show that had me singing away, and just being blown away by the details and quality. (It may be worth noting here that I have not stopped smiling a huge goofy grin since I got here) I also had been stopping for photos and popping in and out of the shops and just generally being amazed by everything.
Fastpass #3, Toy Story Mania, NOW I get the hype! This is AWESOME, it is great fun and I can easily see why people would queue for it. If I make it back to WDW I would definitely get this fastpass as many times as I possibly could, I don't remember the exact score but I won a Beaver, I think it was about 103,000, not sure if this is considered a good score for a 1st timer. I loved the fact that the fastpass kiosk was right outside " I stopped to get a fastpass for Beauty and the Beast, on my way over there I went into One Man's Dream, this was fascinating and I really enjoyed the show at the end.
Beauty and the Beast was a stunning show and I always get a little bit choked up because this was my Nan's favourite film ever and one of the 7 videos she owned. I wish I could have shown her the photos (and other B&B) related photos from my trip.
I just had time to do the great movie ride before my ADR and 1st table service meal of the trip. I was on the car with the Gangster, I was told that there is a different option however I was not lucky enough to see it. This ride is great, lots of details to absorb and I like the clips at the end.
As I stepped out of the ride I felt the sky drip on me, I then watched in amazement as everyone around me pulled out and donned ponchos with lightening speed " for 2 drips? I thought 'whaaa?' but within seconds I had another 1st " An October Shower. I had taken all of 5 strides and I was soaked to the skin!
The speed in which the park cleared was nothing short of phenomenal but I am English, I have had colder showers than this so I walked slightly quicker towards 50's Prime time where I had to fight my way inside because of the huge crowd hiding from the sky water (despite wearing ponchos or carrying umbrellas!) Inside was just as bad, people were trying to get a walk up or a seat at the bar to wait out the rain. I finally managed to get checked in and waited for my table. The menu looked fab and my server was great but she did not seem to interact as much as some of the others. I had a milkshake which to me seemed more like semi-melted ice cream than a shake, but I loved it all the same (even if I had to use a spoon to 'drink' it). For my main course I had the sampler platter, I loved the crispyness of the coating on the chicken, and the pot roast and meatloaf were amazing. I liked the gravy lake in the mash too. I was starting to feel the downside of getting wet " I was freezing, but it was not too bad I dried off quite quickly. For dessert I had the Boston Cream parfait " even though I was full to bursting I would have had a good crack at another one of those beauties.
Thankfully the rain was a long forgotten memory, I decided that to let my lunch go down I would meet some characters in Art of animation, I met Ralph and Venelope, the Incredibles and Minnie mouse. This is where I had my 1st amazing piece of character interaction. The door to Minnie opened and she ran forward, grabbed both of my hands and span me around like we were little girls in the playground, she loved my ears and was chuffed I had my bow tattoo on show, I did not realise that meeting characters could be so much fun and normally I am really self conscious and fell like I am being silly because I am an adult, but like the photo thing one of my trip mantras is I am going to have fun and if I want to meet Minnie Mouse (and others) I will do it!
At this point I decided to head over to Epcot because I desperately wanted to watch Richard Marx " he was one of my childhood legends and I love 80's rock music. I decided to walk because it is supposed to be quicker " it seemed to take forever but the walk is pretty and I enjoyed seeing the Swan and dolphin and Boardwalk hotels (Boardwalk is top of my wish list if I go again). I managed to meet one of Mary Poppins Penguins at the corner of England which was great, I used to do the dance as a kid and I knew all of the words to the film inside out and back to front. I strolled towards the America Pavillion pausing for photos and to have a look at the countries on the way. As I reached the pavilion the heavens opened, even I took cover in the rapidly filling DVC sales booth. Turns out to be a thunder storm (these seem worse than we get over here) but it passed fairly quickly so I joined the queue, this time I met a great local family who attend most of the concerts every year, they were really nice and lent me their umbrella as we waited having a good chat. They also invited me to sit with them in the front row (they had a system of getting there even though the other side was filling up fast). Richard Marx was great but he did not sing Hazard which is one of my all time faves.
Dinner was at Boulangerie Patiserie, I had the hot Ham and Cheese Baguette and a raspberry and Lemon Macaroon, I did get a bit of food envy when I saw the Creme Brulee, but my choice was still great, really nice tart lemon and sweet raspberry. When I had finished it was chucking it down again so I stayed to watch impressions of France which was good and I did have a little chuckle at the retroness of the film.
The rain had stopped so I decided it was time for my 1st Food and Wine experience, the Grey Goose slushy, it was very tasty but I would never have guessed it was alcoholic (maybe they forgot it). I found a spot and watched Illuminations from the bridge, a nice lady let me stand in front of her right at the front because as she put it 'I'm short enough' for her still to see (taking that as a compliment hehehe). The fireworks were good and the music nice but for me it was not an outstanding show.
After what seemed to be a long trudge back through the now closed park I got on the 1st bus back to Caribbean Beach, I was lucky as I was the last one squeezed onto a full bus. I got my clothes and bag ready for the morning and hit the hay just after 11pm

The parfait was amazing, the chocolate was quite solid and the pound cake tasted great. The pin says 1st visit.

Day 3 " Part of your World (Showcase) " Little Mermaid

I was pleased that I slept right through until Olaf woke me up at 7.20am (Yay Normal service has resumed), I did have a bit of a heavy headache but that soon cleared. I headed to the bus stop for 8am and was pleased that my bus was the 1st one to arrive, today is an Epcot day as last night was sort of a fleeting visit.
It was raining again but only lightly and had cleared away by 10am so I was not worried about getting wet and soggy. My 1st ride today was Spaceship Earth, I really enjoyed it, I also made sure to email my 'Greetings from your Future' just so I can check the world is how I think it will be hehehehe.
I then wandered off to the Character Spot to see Mickey, Goofy and Minnie. I was getting quite into meeting the characters now, and I love the Memory Maker system where I know I will not have to 'choose' just a few photos to keep. As I walked out I saw the queue for Chip and Dale was short so I met the cheeky boys.
Next up was The Seas with Nemo, a cute little ride, and I enjoyed wandering around the aquarium, I thought the manatees were really cute, it is so nice to see that Disney take time and money to put back into conservation as opposed to just using Animals to further the attractions. I also liked the way you can mix rides and relaxing looking at other things that are not all full on theme park.
It was then time for my 1st fastpass of the day " Turtle Talk. It was AWESOME DUUUDDDDEEEE. I love this type of attraction (Stitch Live is one of my all time faves in Paris), I also love Crush, its word like Noggin that set me off (My Dad used to use that word a lot) and he just makes me giggle. I think I would love to ask a question but I would feel really self conscious, maybe I should google a good question for the future.......
It was at that point I wanted to complete an Epcot rite of passage " Club Cool. I think I maybe went the wrong way but I started with the Beverley. In fact I had 2 of those straight up, yes they are a bit of a shock when you are expecting a sweet fizzy drink but to me it tastes like my current tipple of choice " The Gin and Tonic. It is also funny to watch people's faces as they try it hahaha. I also liked South Africa and Peru.
Fastpass number 2 was Test Track. My car scored 210, I did not mind that it did not win, It was Pink and fast (which in terms of cars is pretty much all I care about ) After that I managed to spend a really great hour with some Pin traders, I got some nice trades and they loved some of the pins I bought with me, particularly the Tinkerbell collection that I decided I no longer wanted.
It was then time for my 3rd Fastpass, Mission Space. I opted for the green side as I had heard horror stories about the Orange side and as I had not tried it I decided to go easy 1st. I was the Engineer and it was a good experience, I even thought it was tame. I would be happy to try out the Orange side (I tried to but in the end I sort of forgot to go back to it or the queues were too long for my tastes).
From there I wandered into the Festival Centre as I wanted to see the chocolate display. It was stunning, however I am not sure I would have wanted to taste any of it " some of it barely resembled chocolate, but the workmanship was awe inspiring. The rest of the festival centre was a bit too Wine based for me (I can't drink wine) so I headed out of there and into Ellen's' Energy Adventure, I loved the ride and laughed at the fact that all of the pre show announcements said 'This ride will take 38 Minutes', I ended up reminding myself that during the ride. It was a random experience but I did really enjoy it. Especially Bill Nighy the Science guy " he features in one of my fave TV programs (Big Bang Theory) so I was like OOHHHHH !
I then took a long walk to America for lunch at Liberty Inn (This was reviewed on Disney Food Blog and also mentioned on a thread. I was keen to try the Surf and Turf Burger, I also had the Rocky Road Mousse. The Burger itself was a little dry but it tasted great and the Crab cake was a great addition, I would eat it again because of the flavour and the fact it was different from just a normal burger but I would not make a special trip to Liberty Inn just for it. The Mousse was really good, I usually like my chocolate in bar form as opposed to a mousse of a cake but I was really pleased with this, it looked and tasted great.
For a bit of fun and to let my lunch settle I decided to give Agent P Adventure a try, I was impressed. It took me moment to realise that things were happening because I pressed the button and I really enjoyed the way it turned a simple treasure hunt into an interactive piece of fun. The only thing that would make it better is to maybe give you a sticker at the end, have a little passport type thing??? (Especially after doing F&W and Wilderness Explorer but that is skipping ahead *SPOILER*)
After wandering around a few pavilions I got into the queue to watch Billy Ocean, OH MY GOD he was AMAZING!!!! I sang and jigged along. He is a truly great performer and very interactive with his audience. Tonight I got into the 2nd row which was fab.
After that I wandered around a few more pavilions, I did notice that there seemed to be less photopass guys out in world showcase, maybe I missed them or maybe it is an Epcot thing. Looking back I should also have spent a little more time in Future World because I ended up with an hour until my ADR and I had visited every pavilion. I did spend a fair amount of time chatting to some English CM's which was great as 1 only lives about 15 miles from me. I love the fact that the England Pavilion is all Dr Who and the Beatles. On my travels I also got my 1st Food and Wine Stamp from Brazil, I got the frozen Cipiryana and the coconut candy, both of which I really enjoyed.
I arrived at my ADR at La Hacienda quite early but the staffs were great and managed to seat me early with a great view of the lake. La Hacienda is very nice but it is a little dark inside. The food was great and the nachos to start could have been used as a main course (I think it's a one size fits all starter) I had the Costillas (Braised short ribs) and the Apple Empanadas for dessert. Both were amazing, it was nice to try Mexican food that is not traditional 'takeaway/ chain style' food. I also got to see Illuminations while I was eating, it did grow on me a bit but I must admit I would not race headlong across the park or stake out a spot for ages to watch it.
After dinner I decided to head back to the hotel for an early ish night, after a full Epcot day my feet were killing me and I was quite tired. I think knowing what I know now I would make Epcot a half or 3 quarter day park rather than open til close and I would also spend more time in future world before hitting the showcase.

Sorry I meant half a day at a time spread over several half days, I found 12 solid hours were a bit much. I like food but just was not hungry and I did do all of the attractions. Even stopped for the drums in Japan.

If I did just afternoons for example I could have had more snacks

My other Epcot days were much, much better,

Day 4 " Jolly Holiday (Mary Poppins)

I slept like an absolute log again last night, I assume it is the fresh air and full on walking that is doing it. Olaf and his overly cheerful voice woke me up at the ungodly hour of 6.30am (!) But I was more than fine with this because I was going to check 2 items from my bucket list and 1 of those has been a dream of mine since I was about 4 years old......... I quickly got dressed and headed out to the bus stop, to my joy and good fortune the Magic Kingdom bus was at the stop and without waving he waited for me to get there. (I must remember this fact later...)
Once at Magic Kingdom I breezed straight past it and onto the monorail (Bucket list item) and rode it round to the Grand Floridian, I got to ride through the middle of the Contemporary which was awesome and I found the 5 legged goat on my way past. I would love to stay here but that is a pipe dream, so I have set my hopes on the Boardwalk, but hey I can dream right?
I got to 1900 park fare in plenty of time and managed to see the grand opening which I thought was a really nice touch (not gonna lie " I would kill for the chance to be a part of that) The food was superb and I was delighted that I got to try lots of things I had not tried before ( Biscuits,Tater Tots) I tried pretty much one of everything and I did go back for 2nds of the Mickey Waffles. The Lobster Eggs Benedict were amazing and I was really surprised that I enjoyed the Strawberry Soup. I even got my 1st cup of tea (proper tea, made properly mmmm) I got to take selfies with all of the characters, I liked the interaction of the Mad Hatter and Alice. It was also great to watch them with other tables. However as great as they were I have a soft spot for only 1 person (She is practically perfect in every way you know) I met my childhood hero " Mary Poppins, we chatted about having a Jolly Holiday and how we should start with Raspberry Ice, and then some cakes and tea.... OMG I quoted Mary Poppins to Mary Poppins!!!!!!! After that awesome start and a LOT of breakfast it was time to head off, todays stop " Typhoon Lagoon.
The only flaw to my plan was the mission it takes to get there from the Grand Floridian! 1st was a bus to downtown Disney which I had to wait about 10 minutes for (Although I do like the update board that the GF has for bus wait times), then another bus that went to Wilderness Lodge and then onto Typhoon Lagoon.
*BORING SIDE NOTE TIME* As discussed I do have confidence issues with my body image and a swimsuit does send me into a slight meltdown, I had bought a new SS for the occasion but due to comments I had to go out and get a new one. I also had a really bad experience where at a work event I got hit on the head and trapped under a sea Kayak because some lads thought it would be funny to capsize us " not realising that I am not a good swimmer!*BORING SIDE NOTE ENDS*
Due to the BSN I decided that if I did not get my backside to the slides it would only take about 3 seconds for me to think of at least 70 excuses not to do it, so off I marched muttering 'I think I can, I think I can' the whole time. I went to Crush and Gusher as it was the 1st one I saw and also it had no queue, after lugging the raft up all those stairs (Thanks Boomer for the workout thread!) I got on and whoosh- YAY that was amazing (Is that a quote from the Incredibles?) I loved it.
So with a bit of new found confidence I headed off to..... Humunga Kowabunga. I did not look at the slide, I concentrated really hard on putting 1 foot in front of the other. I loaded myself on and after a moment where I really struggled to push off..... WHOOSH. I DID IT!!!!! I was so proud of myself and so overwhelmed that I did it I took a few seconds to stand up, when I did I could barley step out I was shaking so badly and I admit I was almost crying. The lifeguard was so sweet, she asked me if I was ok and all I could say was 'I did it!!!' she gave me a high five and told me I was brave and did really well, I was so choked up. I would love to say here that I went straight back and did it again but no once was great but I do not think my heart or nerves could handle that! SO from there I went onto Storm slides, I really enjoyed that one. I also did the Shark swim, never used a snorkel before and I was chuffed that I got to try it, I saw the sharks and fish and my mask only leaked a little bit.
After that I spent a good while chatting to a really nice CM from Wales, about her life over here and what it is like to work for Disney ect. It was a great chance to calm down and also I found that being on my own I got to really engage with the CM's and I found out some fascinating things and I got a real insight into life in Orlando.
After that I did a full loop on the lazy river. I will say it now " I was bored, I enjoyed the scenery but really it was not my thing. So I hopped out and decided to head to the 2 slides I had yet to do. It was at this point that I got cold " really cold, a lifeguard stopped me to ask if I was ok because I was holding myself and shaking, the way I had my hand looked like I was cradling an injured wrist (?) not sure why this happened as the sun was out and it was hot? When I got to Gangplank and Mayday the queues were both at 25 minutes and I was not prepared to stand and wait. I also realised that I should have put my towel out. Every square inch and lounger were taken, so I paddled through the wave pool and saw a lounger by C&G but I was done, I am not a water park person and I wanted to get myself back into park (I had only lasted 2 hours here!)
I decided to head back to the hotel and drop my bag, have a shower and get changed. On the bus I met another lady who regularly goes solo to WDW and loves it. We shared what we found to be good/ bad/ indifferent, and we both agreed that neither of us were water park people hahaha.
After a quick shower and change I got to the bus stop at 1.15pm to wait for the Magic Kingdom bus, this was the 1st time I have really had to wait for long (25 minutes) and in this time at least 2 buses for everywhere else arrived grrrr. But finally it arrived and I was off to Magic Kingdom for the 1st time!!! Or so I thought....... A silly 'girl' got on the bus and was busy chatting away on her phone, she then missed the stop for Barbados (Which is also the stop for Custom house check in) so when she finally realises we were out of the resort and waiting at the traffic lights, she goes up to the driver and begs to get off (with a suitcase on a busy road that had no pavement!!) so the bus driver gets on the radio and is told that if the whole bus agrees he can turn around... There were not many of us and a largish family all agreed so the rest of us also nodded and we headed back to drop her off (she still wandered off the wrong way when she got out!)
Finally after an hour I arrived at Magic Kingdom. 1st stop for me was Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, I have heard a bit about this and was keen to give it a bash. Ohh this game is good when you get going, my 1st thought was it was a bit odd but maybe because I was in Magic Kingdom and not on rides. I then went to meet Tink, I put on one of my few remaining Tink pins which she thought was great (I did not tell her I was trading them out of my collection) and she liked my trainers as they had flecks of 'Pixie Dust' on them. After that it was almost Parade time so I bagged a nice spot on the curb to enjoy the parade (only oversight was it was in full sun and I got rather hot) The parade was as amazing as I hoped it would be, I even got a bit of interaction from Grumpy and a couple of other dancing characters.
I then had a fastpass for Buzz Lightyear spin. I love these rides and this did not disappoint. I will share the photo - I promise I am happy and not trying to kill someone I was just REALLY intent on hitting those targets!
I then realised that breakfast was a long time ago and dinner was still a long way away, so it was the ideal time to get another key bucket list item checked off " The Mickey Shorts Kitchen Sink! OMG it was HUGE and it was AMAZING, I chose Vanilla and Cookies & Cream ice creams with caramel sauce. I took it off to Tomorrowland terrace to enjoy while sat people and castle watching. I am not sure if this is an achievement or just that I am a big pig but I finished the lot! And I loved it! I popped into the bathroom to wash it up and headed off.
Fastpass number 2 was voyage of the Little Mermaid, this is a great ride, I was signing away and I even liked the fact it had a short breakdown so that I could sing some more. After I got off the queue for meeting Donald and Goofy was short so I decided to go and say Hi. I had a little dance with Goofy in his silver suit. It was then time for my 3rd Fastpass, the eagerly awaited Seven Dwarves Mine Train. This ride is now in my top 5 rides, I love how smooth it is and the details are great, it makes a real change to slow down and see the cool bits before zooming off again. My only observation " the cart is a little snug.
As it was a MNSSHP night I just had time to squeeze in Stitch's Great Escape before heading out. I liked this and found it fun but I will remember not to inhale next time YUCK! I also did a bit of gift shopping (mainly for the bag to carry the sink). Rather than have a bus mission I decided to head straight to Wilderness lodge early. I was not disappointed, I found a REALLY comfy chair and updated my notes, people watched and generally relaxed.
My ADR booking ran a little late but I was soon seated at Whispering Canyon, my opinion of the restaurant was that it is very noisy and a bit packed but the food was very good. I had the Skillet " lots of everything is the way I like my food, the server even asked if I wanted more! I was brave and asked for ketchup, I was a little disappointed that the server tried to talk me out of it and I had worked so hard not knowing what would happen (no google or anything!) but I insisted I wanted to do it and that I was up for fun even if she wasn't. OMG this was so funny. I thought I had got away with it because by the time I was onto dessert the place was nearly empty and nobody needed the ketchup.......... Yep the call came in and I had to carry them all the full length of the room, I only dropped 1 Yay. For dessert I had the apple crumble, it was great.
It seems that today was determined to be a bad bus day (with the exception of the 1st bus of the day) as I had the worst luck on my way back to the hotel. I just missed a bus as I was leaving so had to wait 25 minutes for another one, this then went from Wilderness lodge to the Grand Floridian where it broke down, we were promised a new bus would be no more than 10 minutes...20 minutes later it turns up, I then finally got to Downtown Disney where I only had a short wait for my Caribbean Beach bus. I finally got back 2 hours after leaving WL. I finally fell into bed at around midnight.
SPOILER " This was the only bad bus day that I had in my whole trip.

Day 5 " It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (Carousel of progress)
I had a bit of a lay in today until about 7.30am and headed out at 8am, I did have to wait about 20 minutes for a Magic Kingdom Bus so I missed Rope drop by about 3 minutes! Once in the park I headed off on a hunt for Stitch, he is one of my absolute favourite characters and on my list of 'I MUST MEET'. Before long I found him hiding out in Tomorrowland, and the interaction was great, he did not disappoint. I think he also loved the fact I was wearing my favourite Stitch T-shirt. This shirt actually got a lot of great comments all day.
I then hopped onto the people mover- this is a great ride, I loved seeing the inside of the rides and it is a great way to view Tomorrowland, the commentary is also quite good fun. I also noticed from up there that Buzz had a really short queue, so I went for another go. A pitiful score today of 37,300 and another photo that makes me look like I hated the ride! I LOVE it, it is one of my must do's I just get really into shooting those little Z's. From there I went over to Carousel of progress, another catchy tune from Disney and it also made me realise that everyday has a great big beautiful tomorrow, and I also learnt a little something along the way.
Fastpass #1 today, Seven Dwarves, it really is a fantastic ride with such great attention to detail, but with queues of over 70 mins most of the time it's a fastpass only ride for me. I then popped into Philarmagic, VERY cool! I am a Donald fan and I love what seems to me to be old school Disney mayhem, I love the new stuff too, but it's great to see some classic Donald temper and Mickey sorting it out.
I decided then that I would wander the park for a bit, look at stuff and just soak in some of my surroundings, I think I've said already that I don't know when I will get back so I wanted to make sure I did everything at a speed that made memories and not just racing headlong from one place to the next. I ended up in Country Bear Jamboree..... HAHAHAHA! How Random is that! Bears signing about getting punished, turned on and blood ??? The most bizarre experience but it was good fun and I did think some of the bears were cute. I also like the Bison, moose and ?? Hecklers on the side.
That took me into Fastpass window number 2- Splash Mountain. By far the best flume I have ever been on, I liked the levels and the storyline to it before the main event AND also another song to get stuck in my head. I really think that more flumes should be like this as opposed to little drop - big drop " done. I then continued my wandering, I did not want to get stuck into the 'must go in ride order' and I did not want to spend my days in long queues, so I popped in and out of shops, looked at the wait times and rode what I felt like. This way of working took me to The Enchanted Tiki room, I already knew the song for this one, I enjoyed it even if I got a bit of neck strain from looking up for so long.
Next Fastpass was MILES away " Space Mountain so I hiked my way over there to try it out. It was a good ride, I liked the seats " very comfy. But I REALLY missed the DLP version, I wanted to do the cannon bit with the window and shooting up feeling like you really are going into space. I know that DLP had to fight hard to get the 1st upside down rides in any Disney park so I did not mind about that, I just missed that 1st take off.
Fastpasses used I decided to book myself a 4th " Meet Ariel, as much I am getting into the whole meet and greet her queues had been long so I thought this was ideal. She also liked my shoes of the day and we had a cute chat about Snarfblats.
Next up was something I had been excited about for ages " Lunchtime fastpass at Be Our Guest! I had already chosen what I wanted but for some reason my order could not be recalled so I had to enter it in on the screen again " no biggie, very easy to do and very quick as well. I had the Beef Sandwich and the Lemon Meringue Cupcake. Both were AMAZING, this has to easily be the best counter service place onsite. The food was beyond anything I had imagined, it was served on real plates with real cutlery, the servers bring your food to you and the decor was out of this world! I sat in the Music box room.
After lunch I bagged myself a fastpass for Jungle Cruise " A great ride, very very funny. I then did a huge wandering bit, played some more sorcerers " it is a great way to get to know an area of the park and also good for some non-ride activity. I rode Small World, it seemed that I was singing more that the dolls? I am sure that in Paris you can hear the words all the way around and here it seemed only to be sung with any volume at the end? I then went onto the carousel (not of progress but horses this time) it's always fun to do and the queue was tiny. I had another fastpass for Big thunder but for some unknown reason the FP queue was over 20 minutes????? And the standby 45???? It had been a really long and really great day but at this point my feet were not feeling very magical. I decided to call it a day. On my way out I stopped in the Main Street Bakery for a slab of Cookies and cream fudge for later.
I headed back to the room to have a chill out and catch up on my notes before getting changed for dinner. I then headed out for my evening at Downtown Disney. 1st stop " Goofy's Candy company, my goal- make a Mickey Crispie Treat. I chose Milk chocolate,M&M's and White chocolate Drizzle. My only complaint was that they no longer give it in a box " it was on a plate in a bag, and as I was going to be here a while I worried that is was going to get a bit battered. I was served by Claire who originally came from York, so we had a good chat about England and Disney, and Sweets! She even posed for a photo.
My original plan had been to spend some time tonight in Disney Quest but by the time shuffled thorough the absolute nightmare that is DTD at the moment and because I spent some valuable time having a rest in the room(best decision ever) I only really had 15 minutes to explore it. Just as well, I was not a fan, maybe because I was tired and did not have much time. But I thought the place was not really my thing (that's great though because if we all loved everything it would get rather dull). In fact I did not like DTD that much at all due to the construction, I loved the shops, I loved the eating but I was crowded and cramped and walking anywhere was pretty much a nightmare. However I would have loved it when it's finished.
Dinner tonight was at Paradiso 37, I was sat out on the patio, I loved the atmosphere, the dancing and music were fab (they even played the Macarena and YMCA!!!!!) , the food was great, I had the Steak Burrito and Churros, I also had a rum runner cocktail. I loved it all and so far I think has been my favourite table service place to eat.
After that I headed back to my room, I had an appointment with a certain Mickey Crispie treat..... OMG it was just as good as it looked, but after the great dinner I did only manage an ear before I put it in the fridge and went to sleep a full and happy bunny.......
UNTIL
All manner of mayhem was going on in a nearby room. Kids shouting and bouncing on the beds, Adults shouting and winding the kids up, goading them into making more noise, talk of staying up all night because it was their last night. They were SO LOUD! Now I am all for excitement and having a laugh but at midnight when other people are trying to sleep I would expect some courtesy " BLOW THAT I am not good when I am trying to sleep and Grumpy the Dwarf has nothing on me at that time of night after a busy day (Think of a cross between Maleficent, Grumpy and every bad tempered Villain to grace the Disney screens!) However I did control myself " I did not go and hunt them down only to mount their heads on the wall, I called security and amazingly not 5 minutes later all was calm and I was drifting off into sweet dreams............